Men’s golf claim podium placement at Marauders invite
The Augustana men’s golf team finished in first place at the Bismarck, North Dakota UMary Marauders Invitational after two days of play on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.
With a final combined score of 598, the Vikings saw four members place in the top 10 individual categories. Nine other teams competed at the invite.
The last time men's golf won first place was at the Marauders invite in 2021.
Senior Will Allen led the individual effort with 140 strokes, putting him in first place. Allen shot two successful back-to-back rounds, finishing each day with 70 strokes. Allen completed the tournament with a six-stroke lead over the second-place finisher and a total to par gross of four strokes under. He racked up 11 birdies, a score of one under par on a hole, throughout the invite.
“The individual win is great, and everybody’s really proud of our team for sticking with the game plan and pulling out the win, especially with the wind on the first day,” Allen said.
Junior Jacob Stewart was the second-highest Augustana placer with a final score of 149 strokes, earning him a tie for third place. Stewart finished five strokes total over par with four birdies and an eagle, a score of two strokes under par, on the second day.
Allen was selected as the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) golfer of the week, following his podium finish. He first received the weekly honors as a junior in March 2024.
Allen is the second member to receive these honors during the fall season. The first was freshman Kaiden Brovold after his first-place finish at the Bemidji State invite on Sept. 10.
“It feels really good for me,” Brovold said. “Coming in, I didn’t know what to expect for the season, but I think it’s given me a lot of confidence in my ability as a player, that I can compete at this level and it’s going to be influential for the team.”
Brovold finished the invite tied for ninth alongside Nixon Harrier, a first-year student from Alexandria Technical and Community College. With a final score of 155, Brovold had 80 strokes after the first day and 75 after the second. He finished the individual effort 11 strokes over par through 18 holes.
Brovold, like Allen, plans to spend the off-season working towards playing a consistent game as well as being mentally tough on the course. Both students look forward to utilizing the golf facilities that have the technology needed to make improvements.
“It was nice to win,” head coach Mike Krsnak said. “This team needed to win to know that they can do that, so hopefully, that will help our confidence in future events, knowing that we’ve been there before. We know how to do it.”
Krsnak is in his third season of coaching the men’s golf team.
The Vikings will travel to Grand Falls Casino and Golf Resort in Larchwood, Iowa for the University of Sioux Falls invitational on Oct. 14 and 15 before capping off their fall season by competing at The Tulsa Cup in Claremore, Oklahoma on Oct. 28 and 29.
The spring season will tee off during the first week of March as the team works toward placing at the NSIC Preview invitational and championship.
